Dunkle's Gulf Station of Bedford, Pennsylvania: A little Dunkle do ya.

Another gem along Pennsylvania's Lincoln Highway is Dunkle's Gulf, a sparkling art deco filling station. It was opened in 1933 by Dick Dunkle and is still in operation today, offering full-service repairs and gasoline. It sits there like a little castle, gleaming and saying "hey look me over." It's too bad the pumps are quasi-modern, but this is a small concession to having such a beautiful living, breathing roadside palace from the past in our midst. Could you fill 'er up with Ethyl please?

Round trip: Biglerville, Pennsylvania's Historic Round Barn and Farm Market

The outhouse on the right is for employees only, just so you know.

Eight miles west of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the great Lincoln Highway (Route 30) lies a wonderful bit of Americana, the Historic Round Barn and Farm Market. Here's a bit of history from their website:

"Only a handful of round barns survive today, and so few remain that they are considered an endangered species and are registered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Most round barns were built between 1900 and 1920, primarily in the Northeast and then the Midwest. The Shakers, who built the first round barn, believed the circle to be the most perfect shape (the devil couldn't trap you in the corner). The Historic Round Barn, a spectacular structure, was built in 1914 by the Noah Sheely family."

It's on a beautiful and peaceful plot of Pennsylvania farmland... truly God's country. They've got fruits and vegetables in season and other retail items, many with an apple-theme. There's also a great funky painted old gas pump in front of the place. It's one of a series of painted pumps along the Lincoln Highway, once again proving the Lincoln Highway should be on every eccentric roadside attractions fan's list of places you must see before you die.

Bedford, Pennsylvania's Coffee Pot: The Greatest Joe on Earth!

The Coffee Pot, back in the day

In the 1930's, the Lincoln Highway was the road you took to get places from coast to coast in America. There's a very rich stretch that runs through Pennsylvania (Route 30), and a fantastic effort has been made by the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor to restore and maintain its roadside treasures. One of the best eccentric roadside attractions you'll see along here is the Coffee Pot, a structure that dates back to 1927. Car travel was becoming more and more popular then and proprietors of gas stations, cafes and motels were experimenting with attention-getting ways to lure motorists off the road and into their establishments. Buildings in the shapes of objects were all the rage but precious few still exist today. In 1927, Bert Koontz erected the Coffee Pot to attract visitors to his adjacent gas station. The early restaurant served hamburgers, ice cream and Coca-Cola. Over the years it became a bar and a regular Greyhound bus stop, until falling into disrepair and neglect. The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor rescued it from the bulldozer, moved it to a sunny new location, and lovingly restored it back to better than new condition in 2004, making it a real "perk" for eccentric roadside fans everywhere. Here's some more information: http://www.lhhc.org/content/subpag/pot.htm